The election to the 17th Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was held from 11 February to 8 March 2017 in 7 phases. This election saw voter turnout of 61.04% compared to 59.40% in the previous election. Bharatiya Janata Party won this election by an overwhelming three-quarter majority of 325 seats despite not projecting a chief ministerial candidate before the election. As part of its election strategy BJP contested under a collective leadership and capitalised mostly on the political clout and 'brand' of its leader, Narendra Modi; in the previous election in 2012, the Samajwadi Party had won a majority and formed government in the leadership of Akhilesh Yadav.

In January 2016, the Election Commission of India published updated electoral rolls in all 403 assembly segments;[1] in July 2016, Election Commission decided to increase the number of polling booths in Uttar Pradesh for the 2017 Assembly elections. New polling centres will be planned in the constituencies having more than 1,500 registered voters as well as polling booths in six constituencies of Muzaffarnagar, Budhana, Purkazi, Khatoli, Charthawal and Midanpur to be raised from 1,769 to 1,819 booths.[2][3] Voter assistance booths would be set up and photo slip of voters in a new design would be sent to them. First time, the Form-2B would contain the photograph of the candidates and their nationality.

After the BJP emerged as the majority party in the election, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked the public in a tweet saying, "Gratitude to the people of India for the continued faith, support and affection for the BJP, this is very humbling & overwhelming." The BJP's UP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya attributed the victory to Modi saying, "It is a Modi wave. The wave which started with 2014 Lok Sabha elections is continuing in 2017 and the momentum will go beyond the 2019 general elections."[33] Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi sent a tweet to Modi congratulating him for his party's victory, to which Modi replied, "Thank you. Long live democracy!"[34] Modi was congratulated on the victory by U.S. President Donald Trump during a telephone conversation on 27 March 2017.[35]

The BBC wrote that the BJP "appears to have successfully forged a coalition of upper, middle-ranking and lower castes to be able to manipulate the social arithmetic of Indian elections", it also noted that the party had been able to avoid the image of "doling out reckless patronage to a caste or group", which the BBC considered responsible for the SP's defeat. Bhanu Joshi of Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Research said, "He [Modi] has managed to go beyond the caste arithmetic, on the ground, the BJP is not perceived as a casteist party."[36]

Political scientist Milan Vaishnav felt that the election "represents a referendum on demonetisation". Vaishnav said, "Whether voters were bothered by the implementation of the policy or not, they clearly have decided that the PM is a man of action."[36]

BSP Leader and former Chief Minister Mayavati claimed that the BJP tampered with the Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) thereby rigging the election outcome. However, this charge was rejected by the Election Commission as well as other parties as lacking any substance.[37][38][39][40]

Political analyst and author Shantanu Gupta wrote in his famous article in Swarajyamag, that Whoever Wins On 11 March, Beware, UP Is A Big, Big Mess; in this article Shantanu said that only five countries in the world have population larger than that of Uttar Pradesh. With close to 200 million people, the state accounts for 16.5 per cent of India’s population, but contributes only 8.5 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP). In contrast, Gujarat accounts for 5 per cent of the country’s population and contributes 7.5 per cent to the GDP. This clearly shows how Uttar Pradesh eats into India’s resources, rather than contributing to it.[41]

1.
Bharatiya Janata Party
–
The Bharatiya Janata Party is one of the two major political parties in India, along with the Indian National Congress. As of 2016, it is the countrys largest political party in terms of representation in the parliament and state assemblies. The BJP is a party, with close ideological and organisational links to the Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The BJPs origins lie in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, formed in 1951 by Syama Prasad Mookerjee, after the State of Emergency in 1977, the Jana Sangh merged with several other parties to form the Janata Party, it defeated the incumbent Congress party in the 1977 general election. After three years in power, the Janata party dissolved in 1980 with the members of the erstwhile Jana Sangh reconvening to form the BJP. Although initially unsuccessful, winning two seats in the 1984 general election, it grew in strength on the back of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. After the 1998 general election, the BJP-led coalition known as the National Democratic Alliance formed a government under Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee for a year. Following fresh elections, the NDA government, again headed by Vajpayee, lasted for a term in office. In the 2004 general election, the NDA suffered an unexpected defeat, long time Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi led it to a landslide victory in the 2014 general election. Since that election, Modi leads the NDA government as Prime Minister and as of March 2017, the official ideology of the BJP is integral humanism, first formulated by Deendayal Upadhyaya in 1965. The party expresses a commitment to Hindutva, and its policy has historically reflected Hindu nationalist positions, the BJP advocates social conservatism and a foreign policy centred on nationalist principles. Its key issues have included the abrogation of the status to Jammu and Kashmir, the building of a Ram temple in Ayodhya. However, the 1998–2004 NDA government did not pursue any of these controversial issues and it instead focused on a largely neoliberal economic policy prioritising globalisation and economic growth over social welfare. The BJPs origins lie in the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, popularly known as the Jana Sangh and it was founded in collaboration with the Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and was widely regarded as the political arm of the RSS. The RSS loaned several of its leading pracharaks, or full-time workers, prominent among these was Deendayal Upadhyaya, who was appointed General Secretary. The Jana Sangh won only three Lok Sabha seats in the first general elections in 1952 and it maintained a minor presence in parliament until 1967. The Jana Sanghs first major campaign, begun in early 1953, centred on a demand for the integration of Jammu. Mookerjee was arrested in May 1953 for violating orders from the state government restraining him from entering Kashmir and he died of a heart attack the following month, while still in jail

2.
Indian National Congress
–
The Indian National Congress is one of two major political parties in India, the other being the Bharatiya Janata Party. Congress was founded in 1885 during the British Raj, its founders include Allan Octavian Hume, Dadabhai Naoroji, there have been seven Congress Prime Ministers, the first being Jawaharlal Nehru, and the most recent Manmohan Singh. The partys social liberal platform is considered to be on the centre-left of Indian politics. From 2004 to 2014, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance, a coalition of regional parties. As of March 2017, the party is in power in five states, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Meghalaya, in Bihar, it is a part of the ruling coalition. The Congress has previously directly ruled Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, in the 2014 general election, the Congress had its poorest post-independence general election performance, winning only 44 seats of the 543-member house. The party primarily endorses social liberalism—seeking to balance individual liberty and social justice, the Congress was founded in 1885 by Indian and British members of the Theosophical Society movement, including Scotsman Allan Octavian Hume. It has been suggested that the idea was conceived in a meeting of 17 men after a Theosophical Convention held in Madras in December 1884. Hume took the initiative, and in March 1885 the first notice convening the first Indian National Union to meet in Poona the following December was issued. Its objective was to obtain a share in government for educated Indians and to create a platform for civic. The first meeting was scheduled to be held in Poona, Hume organised the first meeting in Bombay with the approval of the Viceroy Lord Dufferin. Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee was the first president of the Congress, the first session was held from 28–31 December 1885, representing each province of India, the Partys delegates comprised 54 Hindus and 2 Muslims, the rest were of Parsi and Jain backgrounds. It also included Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal, Lala Lajpat Rai, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Mohammed Ali Jinnah—later leader of the Muslim League and instrumental in the creation of Pakistan. The Congress was transformed into a movement by Surendranath Banerjea and Sir Henry Cotton during the partition of Bengal in 1905. Mahatma Gandhi returned from South Africa in 1915, in 1923 following the deaths of policemen at Chauri Chaura, Gandhi suspended the agitation. In protest, a number of leaders, Chittaranjan Das, Annie Besant, the Khilafat movement collapsed and the Congress was split. Although its members were predominantly Hindu, it had members from other religions, economic classes, at the Congress 1929 Lahore session under the presidency of Jawaharlal Nehru, Purna Swaraj was declared as the partys goal, declaring 26 January 1930 as Purna Swaraj Diwas, Independence Day. The same year, Srinivas Iyenger was expelled from the party for demanding full independence, the British government allowed provincial elections in India in the winter of 1936–37 under the Government of India Act 1935

3.
Uttar Pradesh
–
Uttar Pradesh, abbreviated as UP, is the most populous state in the Republic of India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. The state, located in the region of the Indian subcontinent, has over 200 million inhabitants. It was created on 1 April 1937 as the United Provinces during British rule, Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh. Ghaziabad, Kanpur, Bhadohi, Raebareli, Moradabad, Bareilly, Aligarh, Sonbhadra, on 9 November 2000, a new state, Uttarakhand, was carved out from the Himalayan hill region of Uttar Pradesh. It covers 243,290 square kilometres, equal to 7. 33% of the area of India. Hindi is the official and most widely spoken language in its 75 districts, Uttar Pradesh is the third largest Indian state by economy, with a GDP of ₹9,763 billion. Agriculture and service industries are the largest parts of the states economy, the service sector comprises travel and tourism, hotel industry, real estate, insurance and financial consultancies. Uttar Pradesh was home to powerful empires of ancient and medieval India, the two major rivers of the state, the Ganges and Yamuna, join at Allahabad and then flow as the Ganges further east. Modern human hunter-gatherers have been in Uttar Pradesh since between around 85,000 and 72,000 years ago, the kingdom of Kosala, in the Mahajanapada era, was located within the regional boundaries of modern-day Uttar Pradesh. According to Hindu legend, the divine king Rama of the Ramayana epic reigned in Ayodhya, the aftermath of the Mahabharata yuddh is believed to have taken place in the area between the Upper Doab and Delhi, during the reign of the Pandava king Yudhishthira. The kingdom of the Kurus corresponds to the Black and Red Ware and Painted Gray Ware culture, most of the invaders of south India passed through the Gangetic plains of what is today Uttar Pradesh. Control over this region was of importance to the power and stability of all of Indias major empires, including the Maurya, Kushan, Gupta. Following the Huns invasions that broke the Gupta empire, the Ganges-Yamuna Doab saw the rise of Kannauj, during the reign of Harshavardhana, the Kannauj empire reached its zenith. It spanned from Punjab in the north and Gujarat in the west to Bengal in the east and it included parts of central India, north of the Narmada River and it encompassed the entire Indo-Gangetic plain. Many communities in parts of India claim descent from the migrants of Kannauj. Kannauj was several times invaded by the south Indian Rashtrakuta Dynasty, in the Mughal era, Uttar Pradesh became the heartland of the empire. Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun ruled from Delhi, in 1540 an Afghan, Sher Shah Suri, took over the reins of Uttar Pradesh after defeating the Mughal king Humanyun. Sher Shah and his son Islam Shah ruled Uttar Pradesh from their capital at Gwalior, after the death of Islam Shah Suri, his prime minister Hemu became the de facto ruler of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, and the western parts of Bengal

4.
Moradabad
–
Moradabad is a city, commissionary, and a municipal corporation in Moradabad district of Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was established in 1625A. D. by Rustam Khan and is named after prince Murad Baksh, the son of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. Moradabad is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, at a distance of 167 km from the national capital, the city is known as Pital Nagri, for its famous brass handicrafts industry. It is also the headquarters of Northern Railway. Moradabad was established as an office for the Chaupala pargana during emperor Akbars regime, in AD1624 it was captured by Rustam Khan, the then Governor of Sambhal who named it Rustam Nagar. Later, in AD1625 its named was changed to Moradabad, after the name of prince Murad Baksh, a mosque named Jama Masjid was constructed in the city by Rustam Khan for the Mughal Emperor. Moradabad is situated on the banks of the Ramganga river, that originates from the Doodhatoli ranges and is a part of the Namik Glacier, the Ramganga flows to the south west from the Kumaun Himalaya. It is a tributary of the Ganga and it flows by the Corbett National Park near Ramnagar of Nainital district, from where it descends upon the Gangetic plain. The Ramganga Dam has been built on the Ramganga river at Kalagarh for irrigation, Moradabad has a history of flash floods occurring due to the over-flooding of Ramganga river. Major Cities from Moradabad Delhi 168 km, during Summers the temperature is usually from 43 °C to 30 °C and during Winters it is from 25 °C to 5 °C. According to the 2011 census Moradabad city has a population of 887,871, the population of Moradabad district was 4,772,006, roughly equal to the nation of Singapore or the US state of Alabama. This gives it a ranking of 26th in India, the district has a population density of 1,284 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 25. 25%, in 2011 a new district named Sambhal district is formed with two sub districts of Moradabad district. The rest of Moradabad district have a population of 3126507. The Muslim population in rest of Moradabad district is 1588297, Moradabad has a sex ratio of 903 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 58. 67%. Mak Public School Crescent Public School St. G. K, bhim Rao Ambedkar Police Academy, Moradabad is situated in the heart of Uttar Pradesh. Indian Police Services Officer and State Police Service officer of UP cadre, the Police Training College was earlier Known as Police Training School, established in Allahabad in 1878 under an Assistant Superintendent of Police. It was shifted to Moradabad in 1901. The Police Academy is headed by the Director General of Police who sits in Moradabad, now Shri Udayan Parmar IPS is Director of this Academy as of June 2010. The Police Academy has two other Police colleges under its administration i. e, Police Training College and Police Training School former is used to train Police officer of the Rank of Inspector, Sub-Inspector and later is used to train head constables and Constable

5.
Ayodhya
–
Ayodhya, also known as Saket, is an ancient city of India, believed to be the birthplace of Rama and setting of the epic Ramayana. It is adjacent to Faizabad city in the region of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Ayodhya used to be the capital of the ancient Kosala Kingdom and it has an average elevation of 93 meters. Owing to the belief as the birthplace of Rama, Ayodhya has been regarded as one of the seven most important pilgrimage sites for Hindus. It is believed that the spot of Rama was marked by a temple, which was demolished by the orders of the Mughal emperor Babur. The Ayodhya dispute concerns the activism by the Hindu groups to rebuild a Ramas temple at the site, Ayodhya is on the right bank of the river Sarayu,8, km from Faizabad. This town is associated with Rama, seventh incarnation of Vishnu. According to the Ramayana, the city is 9,000 years old and was founded by Manu, other sources hold that it was founded by its namesake, King Ayudh. It was said to be the capital of the Solar dynasty, at the time it was known as Kaushaldesa. Skanda Purana and other puranas list Ayodhya as one of the seven most sacred cities of India, today it is predominantly a religious destination with its historical significance and sacred temples. The Atharvaveda described Ayodhya as a city built by God and being prosperous as paradise itself and its first ruling king was Ikshvaku, of the Solar dynasty and eldest son of Vaivasvata Manu. The sixth king of this line, Prithu, is linguistically the etymology of earth, mandhatri was a later king of the region, and the 31st king of his descent was Harischandra, known for his truthfulness, or Sathya-sandhata. His lineeage was Surya Vamsa and, in known for their honesty as rulers. Raja Sagar of the same clan performed the Asvamedha Yajna, Later came the great King Raghu, after whom the dynasty was called Raghuvamsa. His grandson was Raja Dasharatha, of the Kausala dynasty, several religions have prospered in Ayodhya simultaneously as well as at different periods. Elements of Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam can be found in the city, Ayodhya demonstrates Ganga-Jamuni culture in the Hanumangarhi temple, built by Nawab of Awadh. According to Jain Agams, it is the eternal city after Shikharji. According to one derivation, Ayodhya is said to derive from the name of King Ayudh, in the more accepted etymology, In word Ayodhya, A is feminine negation of the word Yodhya which comes from the root Yudh

6.
Jhansi
–
Jhansi is a historic city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It lies in the region of Bundelkhand on the banks of the Pahuj River, Jhansi is the administrative headquarters of Jhansi district and Jhansi division. Called the Gateway to Bundelkhand, Jhansi is situated between the rivers Pahuj and Betwa at an elevation of 285 metres. It is about 415 kilometres from New Delhi and 292 kilometres from Lucknow, the original walled city grew around its stone fort which crowns a neighbouring rock. The ancient name of the city was Balwantnagar, from 1817 to 1854, Jhansi was the capital of the princely state of Jhansi which was ruled by Maratha rajas. The state was annexed by the British Governor General in 1854, Damodar Raos claim to the throne was rejected, Jhansi is well connected to all other major towns in Uttar Pradesh by road and railway networks. The National Highways Development Project has supported development of Jhansi, srinagar to Kanyakumari North-South corridor passes through Jhansi as does the East-West corridor, consequently there has been a sudden rush of infrastructure and real estate development in the city. A greenfield airport development has been planned, on 28 August,2015 Jhansi was selected among 98 cities for smart city initiative by Government of India. This name Jhainsi in course of time corrupted to Jhansi. It was one of the most strategically situated forts of central India being built on a rock rising out of the plain and commanding the city. In the 18th century the town of Jhansi served as the capital of a Maratha province and later the Princely State of Jhansi from 1804 till 1853, when the territory became a part of British India. According to the 2011 census, Jhansi has a population of 505,693, the literacy rate of Jhansi is 83. 02%, higher than the state average of 67. 68%. The sex ratio is 905 females for every 1000 males, Jhansi city has 57th rank among the most populated cities of India, according to the 2011 census. According to the Indian Census of 2001 there were 21,917 people in Jhansi Cantonment, of whom 56% were male, the rate of literacy was 80%. Jhansi is located at 25.4333 N78.5833 E and it has an average elevation of 284 metres. Jhansi lies on the plateau of central India, an area dominated by rocky relief, the city has a natural slope in the north as it is on the south western border of the vast Tarai plains of Uttar Pradesh and the elevation rises on the south. The land is suitable for species of fruit and crops include wheat, pulses, peas. The region relies heavily on Monsoon the rains for irrigation purposes, under an ambitious canal project, the government is constructing a network of canals for irrigation in Jhansi and Lalitpur and some part of Madhya Pradesh

7.
Bahujan Samaj Party
–
The Bahujan Samaj Party was the third largest national political party in India. The party claims to be inspired by the philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar, Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Narayana Guru, Periyar E. V. Ramasamy and it was founded by Kanshi Ram in 1984, who named his protégée Mayawati as his successor in 2001. The BSP was the third most voted-for party in the 2014 general election, the BSP has its main base in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It has an elephant as its election symbol, the Pali word Bahujan is popularly found in the literature of Buddhist texts. Gautama Buddha used this word to guide his disciples to work for the Bahujan Hitay Bahujan Sukhay, the BSP used this slogan extensively to campaign in her political rallies. The Bahujan Samaj Party was founded on the anniversary of B. R. Ambedkar by Kanshi Ram, who named former schoolteacher Mayawati as his successor in 2001, the stories are narrated in such a manner that the Dalits imagine the story of the making of this nation in which they played a significant role. The partys power grew quickly with seats in the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh and the Lok Sabha, in 1993, following the assembly elections, Mayawati formed a coalition with Samajwadi Party President Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister. Since this event, they have regarded each other publicly as chief rivals, Mayawati then obtained support from the Bharatiya Janata Party to become Chief Minister on 3 June 1995. In October 1995, the BJP withdrew their support and fresh elections were called after a period of Presidents Rule. In 2003, Mayawati resigned from her own government to prove that she was not hungry for power and asked the BJP-run Government of India to remove Union Tourism and Culture Minister, in 2007, she began leading a BSP-formed government with an absolute majority for a full five-year term. The results of the May 2007 Uttar Pradesh state assembly election saw the BSP emerge as a majority party. Most importantly, the majority achieved in part was due to the partys ability to take away majority of upper castes votes from their traditional party. The party could manage only 80 seats in 2012 as against 206 in 2007 assembly elections, BSP government was the first in the history of Uttar Pradesh to complete its full five-year term. On 11 July 2012, the party in a major revamp, the 2014 national Lok Sabha elections saw the BSP become the third-largest national party of India in terms of vote percentage, having 4. 2% of the vote across the country but gaining no seats. On 9 August 2009, Mayawati declared that she had chosen a successor from the Dalit community who is 18–20 years her junior and she has penned down his name in a sealed packet left in the safe custody of two of her close confidantes. The name of the successor will be disclosed on her death, Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election,2017 Dalit Buddhist movement Dalit Nationalism Official website

8.
Narendra Modi
–
Narendra Damodardas Modi is an Indian politician who is the 14th and current Prime Minister of India, in office since May 2014. He was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014, Modi, a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is a Hindu nationalist and member of the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Born to a Gujarati family in Vadnagar, Modi helped his father sell tea as a child and he was introduced to the RSS at the age of eight, beginning a long association with the organisation. He left home after graduating school, partly because of an arranged marriage which he rejected. Modi traveled around India for two years, and visited a number of religious centres and he returned to Gujarat and moved to Ahmedabad in 1969 or 1970. In 1971 he became a worker for the RSS. During the state of emergency imposed across the country in 1975, the RSS assigned him to the BJP in 1985, and he held several positions within the party hierarchy until 2001, rising to the rank of general secretary. Modi was appointed minister of Gujarat in 2001, due to Keshubhai Patels failing health. Modi was elected to the assembly soon after. His administration has been considered complicit in the 2002 Gujarat riots, or otherwise criticised for its handling of it and his policies as chief minister, credited with encouraging economic growth, have received praise, and several industrial projects were begun during his tenure. His administration has been criticised for failing to improve health, poverty. Modi led the BJP in the 2014 general election, which gave the party a majority in the Lok Sabha, Modi himself was elected to parliament from Varanasi. Modi has attempted to improve efficiency in the bureaucracy, and centralised power through the abolition of the planning commission and he has begun a high-profile sanitation campaign, and weakened or abolished environmental and labour laws. Narendra Modi was born on 17 September 1950 to a family of grocers in Vadnagar, Mehsana district and he was the third of six children born to Damodardas Mulchand Modi and Hiraben Modi. Modis family belonged to the Modh-Ghanchi-Teli community, which is categorised as an Other Backward Class by the Indian government, as a child, Modi helped his father sell tea at the Vadnagar railway station, and later ran a tea stall with his brother near a bus terminus. Modi completed his secondary education in Vadnagar in 1967, where a teacher described him as an average student. Modi had a gift for rhetoric in debates, and this was noted by his teachers. Modi preferred playing larger-than-life characters in theatrical productions, which has influenced his political image, when eight years old, Modi discovered the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, and began attending its local shakhas

9.
Voter-verified paper audit trail
–
The VVPAT offers some fundamental differences as a paper, rather than electronic recording medium when storing votes. A paper VVPAT is readable by the eye and voters can directly interpret their vote. Computer memory requires a device and software which potentially is proprietary, insecure voting machine records could potentially be changed quickly without detection by the voting machine itself. It would be difficult for voting machines to corrupt records without human intervention. Corrupt or malfunctioning voting machines might store votes other than as intended by the voter unnoticed, a VVPAT allows voters the possibility to verify that their votes are cast as intended and can serve as an additional barrier to changing or destroying votes. The VVPAT includes a direct recording electronic voting system, to voters that their votes have been recorded as intended. It is intended, and some necessary, as a means by which to detect fraud. Depending on election laws the paper audit trail may constitute a legal ballot, the solution was first demonstrated and used by AVANTE International Technology, Inc. In addition, an official is unable to manually recount ballots in the event of a dispute. Because of this, critics claim there is a chance for electoral fraud or malfunction and security experts. Non-document ballot voting systems allow only a recount of the stored votes and these stored votes might not represent the correct voter intent if the machine has been corrupted or suffered malfunction. A fundamental hurdle in the implementation of paper audit trails is the performance, paper audit systems increase the cost of electronic voting systems, can be difficult to implement, often require specialized external hardware, and can be difficult to use. In the United States,27 states require an audit trail by statute or regulation for all direct recording electronic voting machines used in public elections. Another 18 states do not require them but use them either statewide or in local jurisdictions, five US states basically have no paper trail. In India, Voter-verified paper audit trail system was introduced in 8 of 543 parliamentary constituencies as a project in Indian general election,2014. VVPAT is implemented in Lucknow, Gandhinagar, Bangalore South, Chennai Central, Jadavpur, Raipur, Patna Sahib, Voter-verified paper audit trail was first used in an election in India in September 2013 in Noksen in Nagaland. VVPAT -fitted EVMs was used in entire Goa state in the 2017 assembly elections, when a voter casts a vote on a direct-recording voting machine, the voter has no knowledge through his senses that he has accomplished a result. The most that can be said, is, if the machine worked as intended and this observation was made by Horatio Rogers in 1897, and it remains as true with DRE voting machines as it was with the early mechanical voting machines that Rogers spoke about

10.
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election, 2012
–
The Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly election followed as a result the expiration of the five-year term of the previous legislature elected in Uttar Pradesh, India. The election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly was held in seven phases from 8 February through 3 March 2012, Uttar Pradesh has the worlds largest population for a sub-national democracy. Mulayams son and Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav was nominated as minister by the party. Uttar Pradesh is the largest province in India in terms of population and it was also previously the home of Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Atal Behari Vajpayee. The legislative assembly has 403 seats,206 of which were won by the BSP in the previous election, the ECI announced on 24 December 2011 that the election will occur in seven phases on 8,11,15,19,23,28 February and 3 March. The result will be announced on 6 March, a total of 223 parties vied for the 403 seats in the legislative assembly. This was an increase compared to the election which featured 131 parties who had filed candidates. Though he was released three hours, INC party members in other parts of the country such as Mumbais western suburbs of Santacruz, Malad. Amidst the event he said, I have seen the violence unleashed on your youth, by seeing what has happened here, I feel ashamed to be an Indian. The state government is tormenting its own people. It seems that he is not being heard in his own home, under the pretext of land acquisition, the action was read as having gathered pace as after other legislative elections. giving politicians scope for photo ops. A Centre for Media Studies report showed that the corruption has increased in UP, out of a total of 403 MLAs,143 face criminal charges. The Chief Election Commissioner has raised concerns about the use of money in the election for some form of undue campaigning, the Uttar Pradesh government was also sent a notice by the national government for alleged corruption in MGNREGA. Mayawati, however rejected the allegations as politically motivated and she has also been accused by former minister Avdesh Verma of selling party tickets in the election for Rs.40 million. Furthermore, the BSP also expelled Badshah Singh and Babu Singh Kushwaha, the Uttar Pradesh Government was also criticised by the Supreme Court for not halting the construction of the memorials. Despite an order to do so, on 7 January the Chief Election Commissioner S. Y. However, in Lucknow BSP activists were reported to have removed the a veil minutes after it had been installed, the BSP called the move as completely wrong and not justified. Quraishi dismissed criticism of the order as ill-informed and add that he was surprised has been taken as something unusual, there is a model code of conduct which says there should be a level-playing field for all candidates and parties. On 11 January the High Court dismissed the petition as withdrawn on technical grounds, Rahul Gandhi toured one of the most impoverished area of the country on 17 January, Bundelkhand in Lalitpur

11.
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly
–
The Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It has a total of 403 members excluding one Anglo-Indian member who is nominated by the Governor, till 1967, it had a strength of 431 members including one nominated Anglo-Indian member. According to the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission, which is appointed after every Census, after reorganization of the State on 9 November 2000, the strength of the Legislative Assembly has become 404 including one nominated member to represent the Anglo-Indian community. The Term of the Vidhan Sabha is five years unless dissolved earlier, the election is held on the principle of one adult one vote. The Legislative Assembly for the United Provinces was constituted for the first time on 1 April 1937 in accordance with the Government of India Act,1935, the strength of the Assembly as stipulated under the Act of 1935 was 228 and its term was five years. Purushottam Das Tandon and Abdul Hakim were elected the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker respectively on 31 July 1937, after Independence, the Legislative Assembly met for the first time on 3 November 1947. The first session of the U. P, legislature under the new Constitution, began on 2 February 1950 with an address by the Governor to both the Houses assembled together in the Assembly Hall. An important legislative measure passed in 1950 was the U. P, Language Act,1950, which provided that the language to be used in Bills and Acts shall be Hindi in Devanagri script. Official Language Act was passed adopting Hindi in Devanagri script as the language to be used for purpose of the State. On 11 August 1950 the Speaker, Purshottam Das Tandon, resigned from his office, on 21 December 1950 the Deputy Speaker, Nafisul Hasan, was elected the Speaker. Hasan replied to the congratulatory speeches on the occasion, he declared that unlike his predecessor, hargovind Pant was elected the Deputy Speaker on 4 January 1951. The newly elected Assembly of Uttar Pradesh met on 19 May 1952, on 20 May 1952, Atma Ram Govind Kher was elected the Speaker. Following are the dates of constitution and dissolution of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly, first sitting date and date of completion of term for each Vidhan Sabha can be different from the constitution and dissolution dates

12.
Samajwadi Party
–
Samajwadi Party is an Indian political party in India headquartered in New Delhi and a recognised state party in Uttar Pradesh, a northern state in India. It describes itself as a democratic socialist party, the Samajwadi Party was one of several parties that emerged when the Janata Dal fragmented into several regional parties. The Samajwadi Party is primarily based in Uttar Pradesh State and it has contested Lok Sabha and State Assembly elections around the country, though its successes have been mainly in Uttar Pradesh. In the assembly election in Madhya Pradesh in 2003, the Samajwadi Party gained 7 seats, when its candidate won the by-election of Lanji in 2007, its total tally reached 8. In the 2012 legislative assembly elections of Uttar Pradesh, SP registered a victory with a clear majority in the House. This was expected to be the term of Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister of state. It became official on 15 March and it was also the first time that SP was head of the UP government for a full term of 5 years. It contested the 2009 general election in alliance with the Rashtriya Janata Dal, in the last general election Samajwadi Party was defeated by the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. It is currently thirteenth largest party in parliament, in general elections in 2014, it won only 5 seats, Indian National Congress with 44 seats and the Bharatiya Janata Party getting a clear mandate of 282 seats. In West Bengal, West Bengal Socialist Party of Kiranmoy Nanda had merged with SP, SP has two MLAs in Bihar and one MLA each in Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal. In April 2014, the Save Family Foundation encouraged voters to support Samajwadi Party or vote none of the above because Samajwadi Party stated that it opposes the alleged misuse of gender bias laws. By 17 September, the curfew was lifted from all affected areas. Several people associated with Bharatiya Janta Party including Sangeet Som were accused, the riot has been described as the worst violence in Uttar Pradesh in recent history, the armys deployment was its first in the state for 20 years. The Supreme court blamed the government of not handling the situation well. In reaction to this, Akhilesh Yadav warned of action against those found guilty. He also blamed a political conspiracy behind these riots, since Akhilesh Yadav became Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, the Yadav family has been divided into two feuding groups. One of the groups is led by him with the support of his fathers cousin, the rival group is led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and supported by his brother, Shivpal Singh Yadav, and a friend, Amar Singh. Battle in the fired up when Akhilesh Yadav released a parallel list of 235 candidates for 2017 Uttar Pradesh election

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is the third largest national political party in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It …

Jyotirao Phule, an Indian activist, thinker, social reformer from Maharashtra. He fought for the eradication of untouchability and the caste system, women's emancipation and the reform of Hindu family life. He also formed the Satyashodhak Samaj (Society of Seekers of Truth) to attain equal rights for peasants and people from lower castes.

B. R. Ambedkar, chief architect of Indian Constitution and first law minister of India who campaigned against untouchability, caste system and also campaigned for the rights of women and labourers.

Bahujan Samaj Party claims to represent the low and lowly. A man carrying the BSP flag.